1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to flare holders and, more particularly, to a flare holder which is used for holding a flare while the flare is being used on or adjacent a roadway.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several types of road flares employed as signal devices. One such flare includes a built-in spike at the bottom end of the flare. The spike is driven into the roadside dirt or into the asphalt road surface and accordingly holds the flare in a generally upright position while the flare is used (burned). When the flare is burned up, the spike, which may or may not be imbedded in, or sticking through, a block of wood, or some other substance, remains in position where the flare was situated. Such flare leaves a remnant or residue which is hazardous to later traffic if not removed from the roadway or from adjacent the roadway and appropriately disposed of. Obviously, during the emergency situation which required the employment of a flare, and during the time after the emergency is under control, such residue or remnant may be, and frequently is, overlooked, thus allowing the hazard to remain.
In more common use is simply a flare without a built-in holder. This type of flare is simply ignited and either held, manually, by a user while it burns, or the flare, after ignition, is simply disposed directly on the roadway. If the flare is placed directly on the roadway, maximum efficiency of the flare is not obtained because the flare is not disposed in an upright position for maximum visibility. Moreover, the burning of the flare produces heat which is directly in contact with the roadway, thus melting or scarring a portion of the roadway.
In such flare is held by hand, obviously the holder of the flare is only able to hold the flare for a period of time which varies with the burning rate of the flare. When the flare is burned to a point where sufficient heat from the flare affects the individual holding the flare, the flare will be simply dropped or placed directly on the roadway, as discussed in the preceding paragraph. Moreover, the individual holding the flare is not available for other duties. Thus several problems are present, the first being the possibility of a burn to either the holder or to his clothes, the second being the potential damage to the roadway, and the third being the limited use of a person for holding the flare.
To overcome the deficiencies of the self-contained spike flare or the naked flare, different types of holders have been suggested. One type holder of the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,566. This patent describes an expanded polystyrene block which includes provision for holding a flare in a protected environment prior to use and an aperture or recess in the block in which the flare may be disposed during burning. The block is made of self-extinguishing or noncombustible material which simply disintegrates under the action of the heat of the flare. More distinctly, a portion of the block disintegrates as a result of the heat of the flare, and the residue is left on the road. Unless the residue, which may be a sizeable amount of the block, is physically removed from the roadway, the block presents a potential hazard to later traffic on the roadway.
Another holder of the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,856. A rigid paper-board flare is disclosed which is of a generally rectangular configuration with a pair of apertures located therein. As illustrated, the holes or apertures are used to hold flares in various orientations, such as with the flare extending generally upwardly, with the flare extending generally horizontal, or with a pair of flares, one generally horizontally and the other at a slight angle. In the latter configuration, the flare disposed generally horizontally is initially lit, and when it burns down the heat from the flare will ignite the other flare. The holder will not hold the flare in and of itself, but rather utilizes the flare as part of the holder to position the flare. Depending on the particular orientation of the flare with respect to the holder, the holder may collapse when only a portion of the flare has been used. On the other hand, the flare is, for all practical purposes, disposed directly on the ground in a generally horizontal disposition.
The preferred situation is to orient a flare upwardly at an appropriate angle for maximum visibility and to minimize the direct exposure of the flare to the roadway on which the flare is disposed. At the same time, a flare holder should preferably be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, compact for storage, and inexpensive to mass produce.